Hip Cat

Book Description

This is the jazzy story of a hip, saxophone playing cat who heads to the big city to seek fame and fortune. Once there, he finds that the top dogs own the cool clubs, and that sometimes you have to work at the Doggie Diner to make ends meet. But he also learns how important it is to "do what you love to do and do it well!" The rhythmic text is filled with the same ebb and flow that characterizes jazz music, and the brilliant illustrations bring alive a magical world where cool cats dig hot jazz and where, if you try hard enough, no dream is out of reach.

Customer Reviews:

Groovy book, fun for kids.......2007-06-07

My 2 and 4 year olds love this book! The phrasing is fun. The colors bright. The story about persevering to realize your talent, even when it means eating at all the doggy diners when you're a cat. Though it never says so, the city is clearly San Francisco. So, go, cat, go! Buy the book!

Jazz transcribed to text and illustrations.......2003-08-07

A determined, jazzy cat tries to, and finally succeeds to, make music in a dog-run city, letting the reader see the importance of persevering even in tribulations. The impressionistic, curving illustrations that bleed to the edge every page, as well as the beat poem rhythm of the text, flow together to give the reader an understanding of what jazz is about: improvisation and expression of feelings. Even the placement of the text itself, which sometimes swirls, sometimes indents, and sometimes changes fonts, suggests the unpredictability of jazz music.

Hip Cat.......2000-08-05

This is one of the most amazing children's books I have ever read. Jonathan London is able to convert prose into music. You have a sense of being inside jazz and understanding what it is from a completely emotional standpoint. I was thrilled to have the pleasure of reading this book to my 5 year old son and to introduce him to what jazz feels like. We listened to several Jazz albums after reading this book and the book helped to make a connection to the music. Thank you, Thank you Mr. London for this incredible experience!

Cool Jazz..........2000-07-24

This book is definitely hard to get into, but once you do, you're hooked. The jazz theme is awesome (although I wouldn't have chosen a cat...) and the pictures are brilliant. What a great picture book!

Hip Cat-Jazz Is His Bag!.......2000-07-08

This Reading Rainbow Book, Hip Cat, by Jonathan London and illustrated by Woodleigh Hubbard is a refreshing introduction to the lyrical and "cool" genre of jazz music for the young child. It gives them the opportunity to experience with words and visuals a character who desires to make his livelihood by doing what he enjoys best! The story is dedicated to Herschel Silverman, jazz poet, Bobby McFerrin, scat man, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Young learners, hopefully, will come away with a heightened idea of self-awareness as it relates to career choices and a greater level of endurance to make of their lives what they choose. Oobie-do John the Sax Man Scat Man, the cool cat man, realizes his love for making jazzy music on his saxophone. Others enjoy his craft and his pay is peanuts and applause. Oobie-do needs more to survive. He doesn't give up finding a good gig, one that will feed him and pay his bills. Persistence and perfecting his craft win him a just reward.

Book Description

It was none other than Louis Armstrong who said, "These people who make the restrictions, they don't know nothing about music. It's no crime for cats of any color to get together and blow." "You can't know what it means to be black in the United States--in any field," Dizzy Gillespie once said, but Gillespie vigorously objected to the proposition that only black people could play jazz. "If you accept that premise, well then what you're saying is that maybe black people can only play jazz. And black people, like anyone else, can be anything they want to be." In Cats of Any Color, Gene Lees, the acclaimed author of three previous collections of essays on jazz and popular music, takes a long overdue look at the shocking pervasiveness of racism in jazz's past and present--both the white racism that long ghettoized the music and generations of talented black musicians, and what Lees maintains is an increasingly virulent reverse racism aimed at white jazz musicians. In candid interviews, living jazz legends, critics, and composers step forward and share their thoughts on how racism has affected their lives. Dave Brubeck, part Modoc Indian, discusses native Americans' contribution to jazz and the deeply ingrained racism that for a time made it all but impossible for jazz groups with black and white players to book tours and television appearances. Horace Silver looks back on his long career, including the first time he ever heard jazz played live. Blacks were not not allowed into the pavilion in Connecticut where Jimmie Lunceford's band was performing, so the ten-year-old Silver listened and watched through the wooden slats surrounding the pavilion. "And oh man! That was it!" Silver recalls. Red Rodney recalls his early days with Charlie "Bird" Parker, and pianist and composer Cedar Walton tells of the time Duke Ellington played at the army base at Ford Dix and allowed the young enlisted Walton to sit in. Tracing the jazz world's shifting attitude towards race, many of the stories Lees tells are inspiring--Brubeck cancelling 23 out of 25 concert dates in the South rather than replace black bass player Eugene Wright, or Silver insisting that while he strives to provide his fellow black musicians opportunities, "I just want the best musicans I can get. I don't give a damn if they're pink or polka dot." Others are profoundly disturbing--Lees' first encounter with Oscar Peterson, after a Canadian barber flatly refused to cut Peterson's hair, or Wynton Marsalis on television claiming that blacks have been held back for so many years because the music business is controlled by "people who read the Torah and stuff." From the old shantytowns of Louisville, to the streets of South Central L.A., to the up-to-the-minute controversies surrounding Marsalis's jazz program at Lincoln Center, and the Jazz Masters awards given by the NEA, Cats of Any Color confronts racism head-on. At its heart is a passionate plea to recognize jazz not as the sole property of any one group, but as an art form celebrating the human spirit--not just for the protection of individual musicians, but for the preservation of the music itself.

Customer Reviews:

Meditation of Jazz and Race.......2003-07-31

Gene Lees' bok had its genesis as a series of articles nominally written around a common theme, that of race and jazz. The're no real narrative structure here; some of the pieces are narratives, some more essays and some are just rememberances that sort of meander here and there.

They're very readable, although I do get a little annoyed at times by Lees' short, punchy newspaper style, with two and three word sentances and one-sentance paragraphs. It's a technique that is best used very sparingly. Lees does do a superb job of recreating conversations, showing that he has a marvelous ear for the rhythms and conventions of spoken English.

The unifying theme through all these pieces is Gene Lees' concern with the role race played in jazz, whether the early racism that kept Black jazz musicians out of the limelight, or the contemporary racism of people like Stanley Crouch who proclaim jazz to be Black music. What puts Lees' essays a cut above others who have written on this topic is that he goes beyond the simple enumerating of players and their opinions; he has a real musicologist's interest in the history of jazz and popular music.

One piece, an extended profile and interview Dominique d Lerma is devoted to breaking the stereotypes of the earliest jazz music. If you watched Ken Burns' history of jazz you could be forgiven for thinking that jazz came from ill-educated, poor Southern blacks. de Lerma emphasizes, for example, the role of conservatory-trained Black musicians who integrated the harmonies of the European composers they studied into the popular music of the times, and the role of the great Black music publisher W. C. Handy in popularizing this music.

The last essay is specifically devoted to Wynton Marsalis, a man with marvelous technique and shallow opinions, who refuses to admit that any white musician has contributed anything to jazz, thus bringing the debate full circle. Marsalis is a trumpter with a brilliant classical technique who unfortunately has been elevated in recent years to the position of being the modern savior of jazz by the efforts of Burns and Stanley Crouch despite his not having much of anything original since his early days as an up-and-comer with Art Blakey's band. Unfortunately he has come to be viewed as a major figure and authority in jazz by outsiders, despite being generally ignired as disparaged by most jazzers.

The real pity of attitudes like Marsalis' is that they lose sight of the fact that while Jazz certainly had its origins in Black musicians, it has always been as much an American music form as a Black form, and that today it is an international form that transcends boundries of either race or color. The greatest musicians have always ignored artificial boundries, and many of the great bands of the post WW-II always included musicians of all races. It takes nothing away from Ray Brown to say he was influenced by Scott LaFaro, or that Miles Davis was strongly influenced by his close association with Gil Evans. (Miles, responding to a comment by Marsalis that Miles was never Marsalis' idol, reportedly told him "without me, you'd be all 'Flight of the Bumblebee'")

For that matter, in the end it becomes ridiculous to talk about race. Horace Silver, as Lees notes in one interview, Black, Native American, and Portuguese ancestors; his father spoke Portuguese. Does that make him a white musician? A Black one? A European? Charles Mingus had a similarly mixed ancestry. Does the fact the he was perhaps a quarter African make him less Black in the eyes of Marsalis, and thus less of a musician?

There's a lot in this book to think about long after you put it down. As you might be able to tell from reading the above, I'm still thinking about it.

Some unflinching truths about the world of jazz..........1998-09-28

Gene Lees strikes me as one of the more level-headed individuals in jazz. Like it or not, the hard-core jazz word is these days filled with elitists, racists (mostly reverse these days), and people protecting their "territory." When I see the doings and hear the rantings of the likes of Stanley Crouch and other pretentious writers and "social critics," I am reminded of the character of Max Mercy from Bernard Malamud's novel (and the movie) The Natural...Mercy isn't interested in baseball and has never played a game, but stirring up controversy using baseball as his medium keeps him in the spotlight and makes him rich. Crouch is much the same way--would any of us have heard of him, would he have a tenth of his current income and notoriety were he not clutching the coattails of a currently well-known jazz musician? Lees' discussion of Crouch, of other figures in jazz history, and his inside stories about the jazz world and the psyches within it are like a bucket of cold water to most of what passes for jazz scholarship today. But don't get the impression this is a kiss-and-tell book, or something scandalous. Mr. Lees is actually a rather level headed individual. A must read for anyone not in any "camp" or defending any "turf" but who just loves music and musicians and realizes that jazz, like any art, is a mixture and mixing that quickly becomes so intricate it's impossible for any one group to claim they "own" it. Too bad there are only two other reviews of this book on Amazon's page as of this writing. I can see people would rather believe the hypola histories instead. Too bad...

An intelligent and thoughtful book, marvelously written........1996-09-20

Gene Lees has steadily built a reputation as one of the finest of all writers on jazz. This intelligent, thoughtful, and insightful look at current attitudes on the part of jazz musicians towards race and racial bias is firmly grounded in historical research without being pedantic. Part of the success of this book comes from its organization -- many of the chapters are profiles of musicians and musical scholars which are incidentally used to illustrate the issues under consideration. Whether or not one finally agrees with Lees' premise -- that we have reentered a period of "reverse racism" in jazz -- the quality of the interviews and interviewees makes this an important book, and a wonderful read in the process.

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Does not have the CD
My Baby's Favorite Book
Superior Treatment of Jazz for Kids
This Book is Great!
He's one hep cat

Nicky The Jazz Cat
Carol Friedman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000HXDKDO

Book Description

When a jazz-loving kitten named Nicky meets a legendary trumpet player, he learns how to play jazz and word travels fast—soon all the top musicians hear about this jazz cat and want to play with him. This charming story is illustrated with photographs of Nicky with jazz greats Roy Eldridge, Lionel Hampton, Lena Horne, Quincy Jones, Abbey Lincoln, and Gerry Mulligan as they meet and make friends. The colorful graphics and rhyming text—call and response conversation between Nicky and his new musician friends—reflect the humor, rhythm, and spirit of jazz itself. Nicky the Jazz Cat teaches children about the magic of jazz, the value of friends and mentors, and the power of imagination and originality. Children and adults alike will delight in his journey from curious jazz kitten to acclaimed jazz cat.

Customer Reviews:

Does not have the CD.......2007-05-30

This book is supposed to come with a CD for kids with great Jazz music. I ordered 3 books for gifts and not one came with the CD. The book is nothing without it.

My Baby's Favorite Book.......2006-08-02

My husband and I received Nicky the Jazz Cat as a gift from a close friend before our baby was born. Our baby is only five months old but this has been her favorite book for three months already. Her eyes light up every time she sees the cute cat on the cover. It's the right length for bedtime reading - not too short and not too long - and has wonderful pictures and interesting varied fonts to get your child interested in words and letters, as well as several musical instruments and important jazz musicians. We read Nicky the Jazz Cat, Goodnight Moon, and Hush Little Baby as our routine and our baby has been sleeping through the night very regularly.

I'd especially recommend this book for the young children (up to three years old) of anyone who is into jazz, or is a jazz musician.

Superior Treatment of Jazz for Kids.......2006-03-08

Carol Friedman blends her photographic art, her cat Nicky and her love for jazz in this easy to read treatment of this musical genre for children. Photographs of major jazz musicians (Quincy Jones, Lena Horne, Lionel Hampton, Roy Eldridge ...) alongside her cat Nicky capture the attention of youngsters. The vocabulary is hip, fun and informative. This is one of the better books about jazz for young children.

This Book is Great!.......2006-01-30

(...)
Nicky the Jazz Cat is a great book. I really like the pictures. This book made me get the jazz. This book has some rhyming. I REALLY like this book.
Nicky is a black cat. This book is funny too. There are six people who are in it--Roy, Quincy, Lena, Gerry, Abbey and Hamp-- who are famous musicians or singers.

He's one hep cat.......2004-09-06

This book and its companion CD, "Nicky's Jazz for Kids" make a perfect gift for anyone who loves jazz, loves cats, or loves cats and jazz. My 5 y.o. daughter enjoys reading the book to us and equally loves hearing the great tunes on the CD. It's a welcome change from the standard saccharine children's music. Splurge on both items--Nicky won't disappoint!

The Cat on a Hot Thin Groove: The Complete Collection of 78rpm Artwork from the Legendary Record Changer Magazine

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The Cat is Back
Beyond Fantastic

The Cat on a Hot Thin Groove: The Complete Collection of 78rpm Artwork from the Legendary Record Changer Magazine
Gene Deitch
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1560975261

Book Description

A visual feast of swingin' cartoons for jazz lovers. On the long road to becoming an Oscar-winning animation director, Gene Deitch became an intense jazz fan. At the age of 21, he discovered The Record Changer, a jazz collector's magazine filled with fanatical, scholarly, and purist essays about jazz as well as listings of hard-to-find jazz albums. Every jazz swinger in the '40s was called a cat (as in "cool cat," derived from the West African word "Katta," a human), so Gene Deitch created a cartoon feature for Record Changer titled "The Cat," which quickly became a fixture at the magazine. He also started drawing the covers, which graced almost every issue from 1945 to 1951 along with "The Cat." Deitch's stylistically virtuoso images exquisitely embodied the essence of jazz and became a visual paean to the joy of collecting and appreciating jazz.

In the 1940s, jazz was a vaguely disreputable musical genre and Deitch's visual embodiments of the music acquired a cult; to this day, his original Cat cartoons are bought and sold on the internet.

Fantagraphics Books is proud to collect all of Deitch's Record Changer covers and "Cat" cartoons in one coffee-table, landscape-format art book, reproducing his covers in the same gorgeous colors in which they first appeared as well as the black-and-white Cat cartoons and a commentary by Deitch—who later went on to become an award-wining animator as the Creative Director of CBS/Terrytoons, where he created Tom Terrific and Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog for The Captain Kangaroo Show, as well as many other animated features, including a legendary stint on MGM's "Tom and Jerry" series. Fully illustrated throughout; 90 pages color.

Customer Reviews:

The Cat is Back.......2003-06-19

Great 1940s comics that capture the world of the jazz fanatic circa 1945-1950. Deitch's artwork is clever, original, somewhere between Virgil Partch and Harvey Kurtzman -- far above the amateurish efforts one associates with fanzines. Anyone familiar with the loonier aspects of record collecting will find much amusement in these cartoons (The Cat berates one guy searching a huge pile of records with, "That's the 'A' master which is relatively common!"). Deitch also drew some interesting covers, reproduced here in full color. Anyone into vintage comics, records, and/or jazz will dig this.

The packaging is a bit overkill. The width of the book is huge, but there is a lot of white space on the inside pages. A smaller size would not have detracted from the artwork, and would have made this a more affordable book. Also, nobody seems to have proofread the copy, as there are quite a few typos.

Beyond Fantastic.......2003-06-06

This book gets seven stars. At first, I think I thought it had something to do with Mad Magazine, like Spy Vs. Spy. What I found was a goldmine. Rarely do I see books dealing with geeking out on something. Gene Deitch clearly loves Jazz Music. This book documents a dope artist, blossoming into greatness through an interest in an outsider sound. His honest comments on obsesive geekdom, as well as race relations, are appreciated. A super cool gift, as well as a beautiful, beautiful book. the OilCan highly recommends.

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Jazz Cats and New Orleans Flavor
A rhythmic story told in verse about some real cool cats
Fun, Flowing -- Funky Jazz Cats!
Cool Cats, Hot Jazz for Hip Kids
Excellent opportunity to integrate language, music and rhyme

Jazz Cats
David Davis
Manufacturer: Pelican Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1565548590

Customer Reviews:

Jazz Cats and New Orleans Flavor.......2001-10-18

This is a charming story of the "Jazz Cats" playing their music through out a New Orleans night. It is told in rhyme and each member of the band shows his musical talent. There is the hot piano kitty, Louise, and the leader of the band Broussard playing his clarinet, and old Grandpa Kitty blowing his horn. These and the rest of the jazz band play through the evening and the story follows them into the dawn as they walk home stopping at their favorite cafe along the way for a bite to eat and play a bit more jazz out on the lawn. The story ends in the park with the cats drapped asleep around the park bench waiting for the next nights gig.
The illustrations are delightful as the cats prance and strut to the music in their hip clothes set against lush backgrounds. The rhyme and art is felt through out the book and any child would enjoy this flavor of the south. They will hear the music blow out of the pages.

A rhythmic story told in verse about some real cool cats.......2001-10-18

Jazz Cats is a rhythmic story told in verse about some real cool cats that knowhow to entertain. Their New Orleans jazz combo plays together in the streets as these cats know how to have fun! David Davis' lively and entertaining picturebook story is brought vividly to live with the detailed artwork of Chuck Galey against such New Orleans backgrounds as Preservation hall, Cafe du Monde, and Jackson Square. Jazz Cats is an enthusiastically recommended addition to family, school, and community library picturebook collections for young readers.

Fun, Flowing -- Funky Jazz Cats!.......2001-10-11

I loved Jazz Cats. The rythmn could be felt on each page with the flow of the text and the wonderful illustrations. It helped me explain to my children the unique culture of New Orleans. Then we listened to some Kenny G and went to eat at Razoo's Cajun Restaurant!

Great Book

Vickie L. Perez

Cool Cats, Hot Jazz for Hip Kids.......2001-10-11

Jazz Cats serves up a fanciful glimpse of the Big Easy from a feline viewpoint. The rhymed story swings with the same easy rhythm of the jazz that Davis' musical cats play. Young readers and listeners will be drawn into the cats' world, while adult readers will enjoy the many true-to-life references to the sensory feast that is New Orleans. Chuck Galey's lush, full-page illustrations round out each cat-musician's personality, and anchor the book squarely in celebratory Crescent City ambience.

Excellent opportunity to integrate language, music and rhyme.......2001-10-11

Writer David Davis has converted rhyming prose into jazz music! His wonderful rhythmic text is full of ingenuity, invention, and inspiration. I love all these "hip" historical places in New Orleans, and what a wonderful introduction of jazz through these swingin', swayin', groovin', wailin', far-out JAZZ CATS! Fantastic illustrations too. A perfect book for homes, schools, and libraries, for adults and all cool kids!

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Theo and the Blue Note
Theo and the Blue Note
Joys of Jazz

Theo and the Blue Note

Manufacturer: Viking Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0670061379
Release Date: 2006-09-21

Book Description

All Theo the cat wants to do is play the sax, even though he only knows one note. But when a rocket ship equipped with a jazz-playing jukebox zooms him to the moon, Theo meets the jazz combo of his dreams— Charlie Porker, Nat King Cobra, Duck Ellington, and more. He gets to jam with the greats, who show Theo that there's more to being a jiving cool cat than just one blue note.

Peter Kuper's one-of-a-kind illustrations—created using intricately cut stencils, spray paint, and collage—shake and shimmy across the page, just like jazz itself.

Customer Reviews:

Theo and the Blue Note.......2007-01-10

My children and I loved the book so much that we bought several copies to give to family and friends. With the entertaining story and vibrant illustrations, no wonder why my kids want to read it over and over again.

Theo and the Blue Note.......2006-11-28

Theo and the Blue Note is a wonderful book, fun, colorful and humorous. The smallest viewer and the oldest reader can enjoy it. I only wish it had come with a cd of the musical greats mentioned. Peter has a magical style with the spray art technique and the colors used. I look forward to his next children's book. I think it is a must this holiday for all my friends with and without children

Joys of Jazz.......2006-11-03

Highly regarded graphic novelist (and Spy vs. Spy artist) Peter Kuper has written a book for kids (4-8), and it's a total pleasure. Theo is a young cat with a horn who takes a rocket ship to the moon, where he meets jazz legends like Duck Ellington and Charlie Porker and gives them just what they need-- one beautiful blue note. I've enjoyed Kuper's grown-up books for a long time. This is a great way to introduce his work to kids, and introduce kids to the joys of jazz.

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Jazz Guitar for Classical Cats: Harmony
Andrew York
Manufacturer: Alfred Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Jazz Guitar for Classical Cats: Chord/Melody

ASIN: 0739001116

Product Description

Book & CD. World-famous guitarist and composer Andrew York has created the "Classical Cats" series to be the classical guitarist's ultimate guide to jazz. This book includes introductory lessons on harmony. The CD includes exercises and examples performed by the author.

An Unsung Cat: The Life and Music of Warne Marsh (Studies in Jazz, No. 37)

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Unsung Cat Review
unsung cat
A terrific book about a wonderful musician.
A Scholarly Appraisal of an Underrated Jazz Genius

An Unsung Cat: The Life and Music of Warne Marsh (Studies in Jazz, No. 37)
Safford Chamberlain
Manufacturer: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0810853507

Book Description

An Unsung Cat explores the life and music of the significantly underappreciated jazz saxophonist, Warne Marsh. Safford Chamberlain follows the artist from his start in youth bands like the Hollywood Canteen Kids and The Teen-Agers through his studies under Lennie Tristano, his brilliant playing of the 1950s, his disappearance from public view in the 1960s, his re-emergence in the 1970s, and his belated recognition in the 1980s as one of the finest tenor players of the post-World War II era. Through interviews with the Marsh family and friends, Chamberlain offers an inside view of Marsh's private life, including his struggles with drug abuse. Detailed analysis of outstanding performances complements the personal story, while an extensively researched discography and photographs reveal the public and private face of this unique performer. In addition to the book, Scarecrow is pleased to be able to offer a companion compact disc, released by Storyville Records. The tracks on the CD provide a representative sampling of Marsh's best work, while providing a historical overview of his development, from the beginning track, "Apple Honey," which is a private, low-fidelity tape from an NBC radio broadcast in 1945 of the Hoagy Carmichael Show, to the final track, "Sweet and Lovely" captured months before his death in 1987.

Customer Reviews:

Unsung Cat Review.......2007-01-04

This book is a decent read for Warne Marsh fans and has some interesting insights into Lennie Tristano and his school; awfully dry at times though.

While I really like Warne Marsh's playing, the book seems to idolize him and hold him in a much, much higher realm than I think he belongs.

Again, a good read with some very interesting information.

unsung cat.......2002-07-07

Mr. Chamberlain has done a great service for jazz musicians and fans with the creation of this book. One of the most refreshing points of the book (which actually sets it apart from most other jazz biographies) is that Safford is not scared to be critical of Warne and his associates, especially Lennie Tristano. The book only paints a vague picture of Warne as a person, but I interpret that as a way of showing how hard it was to really get to know the man. This is definitely a book that should be picked up to help spread the word about one of jazz' most important and creative improvisers.

A terrific book about a wonderful musician........2001-09-23

My biggest complaint about Ken Burns' "Jazz" was how many great musicians were ignored. People like Herbie Nichols, Serge Chaloff, Jimmy Raney, the list is almost endless. Safford Chamberlain's book about one of the most sorely underappreciated improvisers ever is superb. It puts in human terms the struggles that almost all jazz musicians faced from the late 1940's on in trying to document a music that was falling further and further from the public view. Lee Konitz has stated "I don't know of any other musician that realy surprised me as much as Warne did with his inventiveness." Mr. Chamberlain is an excellent writer, and I hope this book helps to turn more jazz fans onto to Warne.

A Scholarly Appraisal of an Underrated Jazz Genius.......2001-01-15

Safford Chamberlin's love for his subject matter, the jazz solos of the late tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh, comes out on every page of this unusually well researched and well written biography.

Marsh was a child prodigy who fell under the spell of the eccentric jazz recluse Lennie Tristano, the founder and guru of a school of highly disciplined post-bebop jazz in New York City during the late 1940's. Marsh ping-ponged between Tristano and the West Coast, mostly in relative obscurity, until he died on stage at Donte's in North Hollywood in December 1987.

Chamberlin skillfully weaves the facts of Marsh's life with details about his milieu and descriptions of his recordings. The chapters describing Marsh's early recordings with fellow Tristanoite Lee Konitz are particularly interesting. Chamberlin delicately deals with the difficult subjects of drugs, commercialism and racism in jazz music.

I have read many jazz biographies, some lurid, some sloppy and inaccurate. This one, however, treats the subject matter with the seriousness and attention to detail this wonderful music we call "jazz" deserves.

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BOY'S OWN PAPER - Volume 85, number 8 - May 1963: Bad Spirits; Buffalo Fever; Arafura Incident; Camping in Comfort; The Goalkeeper Who Ate Cats; Motoring on Two Wheels; West Indians Enjoy Their Sport; Fly Tying; International Jazz Festival in Manchester
Anonymous (editor) (H. P. Watts; Ford Whitaker; Charles Pittock; Jack Cox; Brian Glanville; Ian Balderstone; Clive Taylor; George Clifford; Rex Harris)
Manufacturer: Purnell and Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: B000GW28B6

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Cats of Any Color: Jazz Black and White
Gene Lees
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OK8LM0

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